Our look at the nine contenders for the 2012 Motor Trend Best Driver’s car competition concludes with the McLaren MP4-12C, the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Black Series, and Chevy’s mighty Camaro ZL1. As part of our Best Driver’s Car Week, we’re highlighting each contender through a special hot lap video around the famed Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, with commentary from race driver extraordinaire Randy Pobst, who drove all nine cars to the limit. Stay tuned tomorrow, Thursday, August 23, to find out which car won this year’s title!

Some 14 years after ending production of the game-changing and extremely exclusive F1 supercar, McLaren is back in the street car business with the high-tech MP4-12C. It combines a lightweight carbon-fiber passenger cell with aluminum sub-frames and suspension, and replaces traditional anti-roll bars with a variable hydraulic system. A self-adjusting rear wing provides downforce and assists with braking. The race-derived twin-turbo V-8 engine is mounted as low as possible in the middle of the chassis to keep the center of gravity low. It’s not hyperbole to call it a race car for the street.

On handling: Pretty cool car. Pretty amazing technology at work here -- it is just a level above everything else I’ve driven. It feels light. The tail will move slightly during the entry phase, but not very much, and it always just stops. When I go to power, there’s a little more push than I’d like. I was able to get a little wheelspin in one or two situations, but I’m still not convinced that there’s still not something going on in the computer behind the scenes.On the transmission: The transmission’s fabulous. I didn’t feel like the shifters were stiff. They felt natural to me, but I was making an effort to make sure I went through the detent.On the brakes: The car is so bloody fast that I was a little bit conservative with my brake points, but the braking is extremely strong. I love the center of pressure change from that brake-wing angle-change. You can really feel that lock the car down in the brake zone and help it stop.

On the steering: I love the steering effort. I always say I don’t want to do brain surgery with a sledgehammer -- I like steering that’s pretty light, frankly. In terms of that steering response, I felt that feeling more when I slowed down. On my cool-off lap, I could feel that super-fast turn-in. When I was at speed, not so much. It seemed much more naturalOn the engine: There’s a tremendous amount of engine noise that I think is intake noise. By strong I mean LOUD. I’m thinking about wearing my earplugs like I’m driving a race car. I haven’t driven this car on the street, so I’m guessing maybe it’s not so radical there.

Overall: Wow, what an amazing experience. I’m gonna tell you, I both like it and hate it. This McLaren raises the level of stability control to a whole other realm. There’s a lot of computing at work while I’m driving and it’s extremely effective in the way that the car drives, but the car’s not driving exactly the way I’m driving it. I even find myself getting a little bit stupid, like I know I have these crutches so I lean on them. They work so smoothly, it’s almost invisible, except I know I just turned the wheel 20 degrees and the car’s not turning 20 degrees. Something else happened, and that something else is very effective, but I’m not the guy really driving the car. It is amazing.

BD, almost every car here has less horsepower than the GT500 yet it isn't the fastest around the track.I'm not sure the power argument works here. GT500 beat the ZL1 because it puts power down better.So what if its 200lbs lighter.. Wasn't it you that just said you'd 'rather have 300lbs less weight' in previous articles regarding the Porsche Boxster, or are you going to backtrack?The GT500 has more power and less weight, but the ZL1 has a modern, independent rear suspension, and electronic damping.You list the advantages of the GT500 but ignore the ZL1's as if it were handicapped.@ImportsmasherSS: Maybe you should look at the lap times of the Boss 302 vs. ZL-1. You know, the one were the Boss 302 was only 1s behind. Pretty sad for the ZL-1 which has IRS, being up 136hp, and costing $12,000 more.

zetec... This is NOT a new test this is the same day they did the Zl-1 GT-500 comparo. I.E the same EXACT track times posted in the Comparo.. You know the one that the ZL-1 beat the GT-500. You might want to check out Road&Track or automobile track times or even C&D where they tied... Pretty sad for the GT-500 being 82h.p up and 200 lbs lighter..

Just because the GT500 beat the ZL-1 around the track doesn't mean it's a better car, or handler.It's weighs 200 lbs less and is clearly more powerful.....OF COURSE it should beat it around a course!BD

CD282Maybe you should read a little more, or understand more, before commenting here"It is just a terrific package, extremely satisfying to drive. It's almost like you took a Subaru BRZ, tightened up the shocks a little bit, and added 300 horsepower. That's kinda where this car is. It's that good."That doesn't mean the car is a better handler, just more powerful and with better shocks. For 4X the price shouldn't it have that at least? He didn't say flat out it's a better handler than the BRZ. Sounds like he's splitting hairs, and the edge should go to the $25k car that doesn't have a $75k in aids.....BD

@mindevowatch the results and you'll see.. GT-R is a fantastic car in my book.. but if I take emotion aside and look at the videos, yes ZL-1 is a better drivers car than the GT-R.. and for the BR-Z, I think its pretty much on par with the ZL-1 as far as the comments by Pobst.. so 3rd or 4th

@CD282: Back to remedial reading - just where did Pobst say the McLaren was a "driver's car"? What he said was the car did the driving, which is not at all the same thing: "I both like it and hate it... it's extremely effective in the way that the car drives, but the car's not driving exactly the way I'm driving it."

@BD: maybe you should actually read the article prior to commenting here. The McLaren is obviously (from Pobst's remarks) an excellent drivers car - it's just that the electronic nanny's aren't completely hidden to a professional driver. And he flat out said that the C63 was better than the BRZ, yet you rank it below!

I'm glad the Mercedes showed so well. I thought it would. It is the Black series, afterall and is made for the track. The gold medal is still going to the 911 but the battle for silver and bronze is very tight between the BRZ, Merc and McLaren.

Anybody notice ZL1 came in slower than GT500 again?And in regards to AWD competitors, while they post good track times, they deny you the simple pleasures in life like doing donuts in a parking lot and long smokey burnouts. The trade-off just isn't worth it!

I agree on the GT-R, Randy didn't seem to like it that much, and while not as pronounced as the McLaren, the fact it depends on computer technology to do what it does. Seems to me the top 4 will be the Porsche, the Camaro, the Benz and the BRZ, with the Porsche most likely first.

Automatic-only Nissan, automatic-only McLaren, automatic-only MB, automatic-only Jaguar, automatic-only lambo, automatic-tested 911...none of these are driver's cars because they don't involve the driver anywhere beyond sitting on a stool, pressing a foot button on the floor, and flicking a little plastic button every now and then.Test the 911 with the 7MT, because aside from that, this contest is between the BRZ/FR-S, GT500, and ZL1, with the twins being at an obvious advantage.

Wow, today's threesome may shake up the standings. He had nice things to say about all the cars. It may be the McLaren is simply too computer dominated to win, as when he says "it doesn't feel like I'm driving the car." And he really did like the Benz.

That McLaren is just such an awesome car! I thought it would be the winner for sure, but after reading Randy's comments on the C63, I'm not so sure... although I imagine the McLaren is much more exhilarating to drive overall.